Verticillium Wilt

This is what nasty verticillium wilt disease has caused to my tomato plants! It's started with one or two lower stems wilting and at the final step the whole plant succumbs to it.

Verticillium wilt is a disease caused by fungus pathogen from one of the three species of Verticillium genus, that is: V. Dahliae, V. albo-atrum and V.longisporum. The symptoms are superficially similar to Fusarium wilts. Wilt itself is the most common sympton, with wilting of the stem and leaves occurring due to the blockage of the xyem vascular tissues and therefore reduced water and nutrient flow to the stems (note: xylem is the vascular tissue in plants that conducts water and dissolved nutrient upward from the root and also helps to form the woody element in the stem). Other symptoms include stunting, chlorosis or yellowing of the leaves, necrosis or tissue death, and defoliation. Internal vascular tissue discoloration might be visible when the stem is cut. (source: Wikipedia)   

Blockage of water on the xylem vascular tissue is visible on the tree trunk.
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There is no chemical control for the disease but some ways that maybe be useful to reduce the spread and impact of the disease is doing crop rotation, planting resistant varieties and deep plowing. Only, I have no idea if we could reuse the container soil for the next planting season since the disease can stay in the soil for many years. :-(  So, far I discarded the dead plants with all the soil.

Hello 2014!

Sorry for my long absence! Life has been hectic with all the fuss of the holiday season, family gatherings and the real life of gardening!

As for gardening, there are some heart-wrenching moments especially when seeing some of my plants dying off a disease without anything I could do to it, to feeling overwhelmed with recurring pests attack, to the heap of joy witnessing the buds turning to blossoms and finally form the fruits! My..., this has been really such an experience to me! Though it's not a bed of roses at all but I would never exchange it or wish I had never deliberately chosen to have done so, because it is not only refreshing to my soul and mind but has also brought me to another level of trusting the Lord by walking in faith step by step with Him! Seeing how everything was created by Him perfectly with all the details.. and with a process helps me practice patience in waiting for His right timing in every aspect of life! To Him all glory, praises and awe!

Pests in My Rooftop Garden

I have been busy all this while at my rooftop garden, grappling with pests from the scarry-looking-winged critters buzzing around my plants to tiny cute whiteflies underside the leaves, which I could hardly tap and another hosts of leafhoppers, aphids and leafminers. I learn that lights attract many of these insects at night, so I only turn the lights on when I head up to the rooftop to do pest inspection before going to bed. Well, yeah, I'm a pest-police. :-)

Teachers Day Commemoration

Last Monday (Dec 2nd), I was surprised by a gift and sweet letter from my tuition student, expressing her appreciation to me who's been teaching her for the last 3 years. In Indonesia we commemorate Teachers Day on every November 25th. Looking back, I realized I have never personally thanking my teachers - people who have contributed a lot into my life. I of course have several teachers who had left deep impression on me by their genuinity as many of you do. We did celebrated Teachers Day every year, we usually celebrated it with decorating the classroom, gave them flowers or a gift, but had never personally and deliberately thanked them for all they had done for us.

After teaching for several years, though it's only a private tuition, I understand how great it feels for a teacher when all you do - all the love, patience and sacrifice you have devoted to your students are being appreciated in return. I am not saying that we, teachers, are expecting strings attached, but it helps me to understand how great and at the same time humbling this would make teachers feel.

Well, I was quite surprised and flattered by her effort; staying up late to compose the letter with the touches of new vocabularies here and there (very proud of her!). I even more touched when she said I am SPECIAL to her, though she doesn't know how to express it. She bought me a water spray, saying that she thought of me when she saw the item at the shelf and how relevant it is to my new hobby of gardening. 

And as you could see, she didn't forget to put a touch on the spray to make it even more special. She MADE my day! :-) Wishing she is this sweet EVERYday! ;-D

Updates

Sorry for my absence lately... Life's been hectic and I am getting busier in my growing rooftop garden. Plus early in the morning of November 24th, my city received a downpour of volcanic ashes from Mt. Sinabung which is only 80 km away. I had to do some emergency action by moving all my tomato seedlings inside, and the next couple of days were filled with cleaning the ashes off my rooftop. Mt. Sinabung has been considered as an active stratovolcano type B which means active but not dangerous, because it has been dormant since its last eruption in 1600 but has now been considered as 'alert' since August 2010, when it started to erupt and spit out lava up to now where it has been erupting on and off. 

Many people, mostly farmers, living within 5 km around the mountain were evacuated to safer places/shelters. It was also reported about last week that the heavy downpour had send out cold lava which destroyed houses and farms. Praying for the indisplaced people, may this be away soon and they'll be able to go home and continue their lives a.s.a.p.